The present invention relates to a paging receiver for use in a vehicle and one which is selectively operated by the operation of the door handle of the vehicle for conserving battery energy.
Two-way communications between vehicles and base stations are becoming commonplace with cellular telephones being one of many popular means of communications. Paging receivers also have been employed in vehicles and can be used, for example, for the programming of vehicle options through a dealer network as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,157. One difficulty with utilization of a cellular telephone or paging receiver is that when the operator is not in the vehicle and the vehicle is not in operation, paging messages either cannot be received if the cellular telephone or paging receiver are inactivated or, if they are powered, significant battery drain can result. Over a period of time, the vehicle's battery, particularly in winter climates during cold weather, can be significantly discharged.